Emergency personnel work at the scene of the deadly bus crash in the Bronx in March 2011. (ANDREW GOMBERT/EPA)

Cheap, city-to-city curbside bus services are seven times more likely to kill you than the ones that operate out of traditional bus terminals, a National Transportation Safety Board study found.

The fatal accident rate for carriers that do sidewalk pick-ups was 1.4 per 100 vehicles from January 2005 to March 2011 — seven times that of conventional interstate bus services, according to the report released Monday.

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"While many curbside bus carriers work to operate at the highest standard, for too long, some bad apples in the industry have played fast and loose with passenger safety," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in Chinatown, outside pickup spots for two cut-rate bus services. "And today, we're here to say, 'Enough is enough.'"

He and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn) commissioned the first of its kind, six-month study of the motorcoach industry after a horrific March 12 crash on I-95 in the Bronx left 15 dead and 18 injured.

Also, size matters, and so does experience, the study found.

Twenty carriers with high accident rates or high inspection and violation rates operated justa 17 buses on average and had been in business a median time of six years. The study did not name the problem carriers.

The other 51 curbside operators in the study — which didn't have high rates — had 63 buses on average and had been in business a median 16 years.

Schumer said fines for curbside carriers' safety violations are too low — and called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to give them letter grades for their safety records.

Several bus riders in Chinatown were unwilling to abandon their cheap, convenient rides despite the disturbing safety stats.

"The price is perfect," said Naved Paracha, 50, of Manchester, N.H., who made a day trip on Lucky Star buses from Boston. He paid $30 round trip.